Archive - Lead RSS Feed

Ministry Marketing: Focus

December 13, 2009 in Communication, Lead 1

church-marketing1

Now usually I’ll give you my own personal insights but I really want you to go check out this post by Kem Meyer. And if you don’t already subscribe to her and you are loving this Marketing Series, then you would be hurting your growth in this area if you didn’t subscribe to her blog.

Now she goes very corporate to give you a picture of what the Identity Crisis looks like with brands. However, when you look at your church, can you say that all aspects from Communication to Assimilation to Environment to Content to Message are all unified in their apparent purpose?

If they aren’t then what does that communicate to prospective “shareholders”? What are you leaving out of the loop when it comes to the heart, core, nucleus of what you do? By leaving that thing out does it communicate something different than the message you intend for people to receive?

I’ll give you an example for #kidmin that most of us probably never think about. Preschool-check in. What value do our preschoolers get from checking in to a desk where they can’t see the attendants and they have nothing to occupy their attention?

Where is an area that you think the church might not be considering when trying to communicate the heart, core, and nucleus of what they are about?

There are some changes going on where I work….

December 11, 2009 in Family Ministry, Lead 0

Orange Wedges on Black, originally uploaded by S_Freer.

I’m pretty excited about them to say the least. Can you figure out what’s going on?

Ministry Marketing: SWOT analysis

December 2, 2009 in Communication, Lead 3

church-marketing

Maybe you don’t feel like you can totally take on the brunt of change in your ministry and the way they market themselves? Would you like a very easy and practical way to get started without having to just totally destroy any bridge you might have by asking for a total overhaul? Or would you just like to get your feet wet a little bit? Or are you just ready to get past the overly utilized, yet classic infomercial introductory question time?

Then the SWOT analysis is for you!!!

But seriously a great place to start is a SWOT. Contrary to what you might think this has nothing to do with slapping anyone’s wrists or destroying insects, but instead has everything to do with gaining a little focus for your ministry.

Simple Overview Time!

SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Ask yourself some questions about each of these.

Strengths:

  • What would the community say are the strengths of our ministry?
  • What assets do we possess? (financial, property, key relationships, or maybe just awesome people)?
  • What needs are we meeting in the community?
  • We are incredible at…

Weaknesses

  • What would the community say are some weaknesses that are present?
  • Do we have any liabilities?
  • Are there some needs that are obvious that we are not meeting?
  • We are pretty much bad at…

Opportunities

  • Are there trends in your community that you can support, be a part of, or contribute to?
  • Are there needs in the community that we can meet that no one else is?
  • What opportunities are there in the community that align with out strengths?
  • We could really do…

Threats

  • Any community trends that could hinder your impact?
  • Long Term Plans?
  • What is the plan after this leadership is gone?
  • We could do this, but…

Again this is a pretty basic SWOT. But it’s a great place to start the process and gives you some nice ideas with where to go from where you are now!

Hope this helps you out. Have you ever been a part of a SWOT analysis? Give me some details, let me know what the process was like.

Books??? Suggestions???

November 19, 2009 in Lead 1



Old Book, originally uploaded by artamuse.

I need some book suggestions. I’m going to Memphis next week and really would like to get some good stuff. Really not looking at a particular topic at this time.
Anything doesn’t have to be spiritual or even business related. Just something good that I will walk away with going: Man that was awesome!
If I pick your book, there will be something awesome in store for you, so really sell it!!!

Ministry Marketing Part 1: Overview

November 18, 2009 in Communication, Lead 0

church-marketing1

Well I thought it would be best to give you an overview of what exactly is Ministry Marketing? Well to start off I’ll give you the AMA’s (American Marketing Association) recently updated definition (2007) and then my own.

AMA:
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Me:
The art of creating and aligning content, communication and process in order to create value for people that could be affected by your ministry.

Ok so what does that even mean? Well Marketing even when I was in college from 2004-2007 was more of a function or a department of a company. Recently though, this thought has changed. Marketing is no longer a function or a department, but an activity that every member of the corporation is responsible for. So anything that your ministry does creates some kind of value for people.

Is the value that you individually creating for your ministry positive or negative?

But with so many ministries and different people how can you control the value that is being sent out? Great question with a simple yet complex answer.

You can’t.

You most certainly can do things to affect it but you will never be able to control it.

But why write this blog about Marketing if we can’t control it. Because I think that we can affect it in a way that provides clear value to a world that is hurting and needs help from a Savior that can satisfy all of their needs.

For fear of losing you with more boring rhetoric, I’ll give you some juicy tidbits to consider for your church or ministry.

Three things that need the most help

  1. Purpose:

    2 necessary questions. First what is it? What is your purpose? God created each of us differently and each of our ministries should mirror that. God put us in a place to meet specific needs for people and gave you and the people in your ministry specific skills in order to do so. So once you know what your purpose is then ask this question. Does this (communication piece, video, event, game, song, etc.) satisfy our purpose?

  2. Communication from top down:

    Not talking about just staff here, although Lord knows we need help there as well. But your volunteers are value holders just as much as you are. Here is one of my favorite quotes and something that I try and live by. It comes form George Bernard Shaw.

    “The problem with communication…is the illusion that it has been accomplished.”

    Don’t judge how well you’ve communicated purpose and vision by your most committed people. Instead judge by your least committed people. Then you’ll know how effective you are at communication your vision and purpose.

  3. We’ve always done it this way:

    I don’t think this is necessary a problem on most church staffs when coming up with ideas. But when it comes to the implementation, the hill to climb in order to persuade, convince, get buy-in, bribe people into changing is just way to big. We’ve got to allow God to lead our change and do things that create value in the individual way that He created our ministry/church/person to do.

O there’s more fun on the horizon. What do you think about everyone being a shareholder? How about the three things I listed? Any that you would add?

Ministry Marketing

November 17, 2009 in Communication, Lead 3

church-marketing

So I’ve really been thinking about this thing alot lately. And yesterday oddly enough, CMS ran a post on a Church Marketing Plan provided by the United Methodist Church that is really intense. I have never seen a plan like this for the church.

Do they exist? I’m sure they do.

Have I ever seen one? Nope.

So if you don’t know, I have a degree in Marketing. It’s something that I really enjoy. I am not a salesman. I didn’t go to school to be a salesman. Marketing is not Sales. They are very different. So I thought over the past few weeks, how it would be fun to give some things that I have thought about for a long time as far as Marketing and the Church are concerned. Then I saw the post and just had to jump on it. So over the course of this week I’ll throw out just a few tips that I think will help some people. Not only that I will pose some questions that you need to answer. I hope this will be helpful if you are a Marketing persona or do some sort of Church Communication/Promotion.

But maybe you are the opposite. Maybe you feel that this is the furthest thing from your job in the church. Everyone plays a part in the Marketing and Branding of a Ministry. From the pastors, to paid staff, to trustees, to voluneers, we all have a part to play. If you don’t know what yours is in your particular church then I hope that this series will help you.

I’m pretty pumped to give you guys some advice on something that I actually know a little bit about. I mean I love Children’s Ministry, but I am very much a Daniel-son grasshopper guy. And no I’m not an expert by any means when it comes to Marketing, but I got some skills, yo.

So hope that you get some useful tips from this lil thing! Let me know what you think when we get rolling!

Greatest Message I’ve Ever Heard…Literally

November 16, 2009 in Lead, Life, Resources 1

brookwood-post-2

So I literally never do this. I don’t usually pimp out Brookwood Church stuff. I think there are a ton of resources out there including ours and I just don’t pimp our stuff. I try and give you overviews and strategies that we use in hopes that you will consider ideas and come up with your own.

This is Different!

I heard the greatest message I have ever heard in my entire life. This message is for everyone except kids but especially parents. I will tell you this, it’s heavy. There will be emotions that this message will evoke that you might not have known are there. It’s beneficial for you to talk about these things.

I never, never, ever, ever do this. This message is that important. You need to watch or listen to it. It’s about an hour, it’s worth it.

Yes I am crazy enough to think that I just told you to watch or listen to a message that is about an hour and you will watch it because I’m sounding crazy.

Greatest message ever.

Here is the link for the video.

Having my Wounds Healed

Let me know what you think.

Kid Appropriate

October 22, 2009 in Communication, Family Ministry, Lead 6

I’m shocked, Dad…., originally uploaded by Tampen.

While I hate to admit it, I get torn alot on this issue. I grew up in the church and I know some of the waysthat the teaching affected me. I’m currently writing a series on Abraham for the new year. Obviously some things in the story of Abraham aren’t necessarily kid friendly.

Abram/Sarai/Hagar ring a bell.

And this quote will help paint a picture of what I’m talking about.

“All of childhood’s unanswered questions must finally be passed back to the town and answered there. Heroes and bogey men, values and dislikes, are first encountered and labeled in that early environment. In later years they change faces, places and maybe races, tactics, intensities and goals, but beneath those penetrable masks they wear forever the stocking-capped faces of childhood.” -Maya Angelou

And I’m not gonna lie, it’s a really tough place for me. A couple things that I’ve realized that might help you in developing some things for kids and maybe the line you are drawing is very gray or grey if @funnymandan and @kidinspiration

So here are a few things that I have learned in the process of what to teach and what not to teach on age appropriate things in scripture.

1. Gradual Revelation

Just like the Bible our lives are a sequential process. Things aren’t always revealed to us at one time. It would be disingenuine to push that process especially in areas that are meant to be learned over time. Sex and violence are two of those things in my mind. Sometimes they are just revealed too early however, that doesn’t mean that we should be afraid to confront these issues with Scriptual backing. However, in what is generally anywhere from 7-25 minute teaching isn’t enough to teach an all encompassing lesson on either of these matters.

2. Trust

This is the one that I struggle with the most. I take on a heavy burden teaching kids the Bible. I want them to grasp spiritual things and sometimes get down on myself that I can’t teach them everything in the time alotted. Or that maybe I said something that could damage their foundation of living a life for Christ. But I have to remember that the spiritual matters have to be left up to God. I must do all that I can but not more than I can. And this is always a tough place for me.

3. Will you leave unanswered questions?

This is really a pet peeve of mine. So if this example I’m about to throw out there is you, I apologize beforehand. I don’t understand using rhetorical questions in teaching.

“Like have you ever imagined a world without hypothetical situations.”

I’m not sure if our job as teachers to kids is to present them with more questions. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that we must try and answer the questions. Yes there is a value in posing new questions for sure. But I don’t want to leave my pupils without an answer to the questions we were going to answer.

4. When in doubt teach something else.

Again I feel torn about this particular situation with ol Abram. I know that I got to my teen years and was studying alot of these characters that I knew about and then was like, they did what!!!!!????!?!?!?!?!?!

Maybe it’s just me but didn’t hear about Abe and his infidelity, Noah and his issue with alcohol, and Moses and his anger issues. (Which feel free to throw both of your hands up at your desk and thank God for grace. Seriously. Do it now.) Now hear me on this please.

Do Not I repeat DO NOT ADD OR TAKE AWAY FROM GOD’S WORD. However, teaching things that kids more than likely aren’t dealing with should not be our goal either.

So anyway to conclude I’m still torn. I really am. But from the people in my life that are very wise, they’ve told me to find a way to acknowledge that mistakes were made without going into the mistakes or skip it. I know very uncomfortable piece for me to write today but I hope it helps someone out there. Again just an issue for me to trust God more than my own ability to teach these things.

But what about you. I’m sure you’ve got some insight. I’m just a youngun teach me, please.

Book Review-Simple Life

October 19, 2009 in Lead, Resources 1

Simple Life Blog Piece, originally uploaded by jcisonline.

Well I’m excited and nervous about my first book review. Why? Well I know that it took alot of work to write a book, just like it takes alot of work to write a good blog piece. But in all of these reviews I plan to be honest and forthcoming in my critique.

Anyway let’s get started. I was originally drawn to this book because of my experience with Simple Church. Great book for me mainly because I was trying to figure out some basic church philosophies and methodology on ministry. It was written by Thom Rainer who is also co-author of Simple Life. So that is why I was interested in this title.

Over 1,000 people surveyed confirmed that their lives are really stressful and lack focus. The Rainers intend to give insight on how simplifying your life can lead to joy and meaning. This book lays out a plan for simplicity in people’s lives.. Why simplicity? Well because we get bogged down by things that aren’t necessarily what we would call priorities. They show you four areas to key in on: Time, Relationships, Money, & God. Then for each area they guide you through a process consisting of four steps.

  • Clarity-defining a goal
  • Movement-doing something about it
  • Alignment-making sure what you are doing is matching up
  • Focus-final push to move from bogged down busyness to a renewed Spiritual walk.

My Thoughts:

Practical Plan with Effective Guidance

They give you a simple plan. They give you encouragement to get it done. Effective and short. May a little more detail but I believe they accomplished their purpose.

Spiritual Perspective

It’s nice to hear how to focus your daily tasks on life changing behaviors. I think they do a great job by showing the need to focus on the things that matter most. Our relationship with God, family, and other people.

Geared Towards an Older Crowd

I thought that providing everyone with a plan for creating a more meaningful, goal oriented push in their daily lives is an encouraging thing. I quickly realized however that this book seemed to be geared toward a bit of an older crowd. I don’t have kids, a house, or overwhelming amounts of extracurricular activities so later in life this book could have a more meaningful place. But for now alot of the situations didn’t apply to me.

Commercials

Don’t get me wrong I don’t have a problem with an author pushing their other resources, however, a break would be nice. It was a little bit uninspiring to hear about the Love Dare and Facing the Giants so much.

Lack of Statistical Analysis

Now forgive me because I am a stats guy personally so the lack of statistical analysis is something that I really missed. However, most people as they clearly state in the book probably aren’t interested.

Overall an ok book. Again alot of the stuff I felt didn’t really apply to me and my current life situation, however stuff to remain in my mind when the time comes. It you’ve got kids and you just feel like a plate spinner hoping it doesn’t come crashing down, then this is a must read for you.

For more info on Simple Life, check out Thom Rainer’s site or pick up the book on Amazon.

My focus

October 7, 2009 in Family Ministry, Lead 0

Maldives.net.mv on its way.., originally uploaded by nattu.

“So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program.” Acts 6:2 (NLT)

It’s tough in ministry to remain focused on a singular area. One area of my roles here at BrookwoodKiDs is Production. But I also teach our 3rd-5th grade kids on Sunday mornings. I will tell you with all of the time and effort I put into video, graphic design, lights, stage design, blah de blah de blah nothing invigorates me more than seeing kids get it.

As I’m reading through Acts, I came to this familiar passage to me. As a teen contemplating ministry, I could never understand this passage. Seems pretty selfish of the disciples. I mean there are two groups of widows that are of a pretty different ethnic background. Strong feelings on both sides and one group is getting left out. The disciples tell the congregation that “look dudes & dudettes we don’t have time to run a food program.” And I would always be like that is kinda rude.

But as I’m finding out later in my life those thoughts were just a result of my lack of belief in the power of God’s word to change lives. The reality is that the disciples did have a desire to see this problem solved, in fact they empowered their congregation to solve it. Hmm, that’s a novel idea ;) But they wanted to make sure they focused on their call to preach and teach God’s Word. They didn’t consider food programs not worthy or unequal to their call but instead realized that it wasn’t their call.

So I’ll draw the line but I think that you’ve already connected the dots. Focus on your Call. Focus on what is most important and pour yourself into that in your ministry.

I’ll leave you with this quote:

“Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives.” Anthony Robbins

Page 7 of 18« First«56789»18